What conditions do I need to have the full “power” / throttle available?

[Idk3]

I have model 3 performance, 2019, it seems that I very rarely have access to full power. All settings seem to suggest everything is ok eg sport acceleration, but the white bar which indicates power/regen never actually reaches the far right.

Am I doing something wrong? Does the car have to be warmed for ages first, above a certain battery %, on a flat surface etc?

 

[NewbieT]

Power
Warm is the main one. Takes longer than you think for the whole pack to warm through after being cold soaked. Normal driving can take hours because they’re so efficient. Mainly: Time battery charging to stop just before you need the car. Pre-heat the car. Use a garage? If you’re thinking track day performance, get scanmytesla to look at internal temps. Navigate to Supercharger will warm the battery by changing the efficiency of the motors.

High state of charge / battery % generally means more power available.

Level ground vs incline makes no difference to performance other than the affect gravity has on any car. It is a heavy car.

Regen
is throttled back with a cold battery or at very high state of charge / charge %.


EDIT: 2019 didn’t have the heat pump so (in my experience) takes longer to warm of a morning.

 

[Mr H]

Wait for summer......

 

[GtiMart]

You'll need 90% SOC and a 35C battery pack, something along those lines. Reduce any of the variables and lose power. Someone did dyno runs at various SOCs, you should look for that to understand how much power you lose depending on state of charge.

 

[spooksman]

Personally, I have an M3P (2020) and when I floor it the last thing I'm looking at is the little line...

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

As others have said, battery temp and a hiogh state of charge. My old Model S which had ludicrous even had a preheat option for the battery to enable maximum power and that could take 40 mins when cold to get there. As an aside, the temperature for maximum performance is not a good temperature for the battery, EVs, like most things in life, is a compromise between loingevity and performance.

 

[Adopado]

I noticed another aspect that affects application of power ... summer tyres on a cold damp surface (4 to 5C). I had a puncture and decided to swap out my winter tyres early (I know ... bad timing with the coming week of weather). After the switch-over I immediately noticed that the car was much more picky about applying full acceleration compared with the winter tyres. The traction control on my SR+ is super smooth so you would just think you are down on power because there's no actual scrabble required before it does its thing ... I'm aware that this behaviour may be a bit different to the AWD cars.

 

[phil4]

Try letting the battery run down, then heading to a supercharger (with pre-heat) and charging there to 90%.

Your car will defo seem faster afterwards.

 

[Idk3]

Thanks for this guys I will keep an eye on it. Both times I’ve had a M3P were mid summer, so temps were always good, and I only had them for a few weeks so was just used to the power being on tap.

As I’ve picked this up in the peak of winter I’m not getting that full power all the time, and I’m mainly driving when it’s low (1-5 deg) morning and night. Strange this as it’s the perfect temp for ICE but the worst for elec. I used to absolutely love a cold morning but stone dry roads in some of my older cars ! Now I just watch the wh/mi go up and worry about the extra 1p a mile I’ve spent. How times have changed…

 

[Godsense]

How much of the power bar is generally missing?

Even in these cold temps with my battery at 5/6c I can access plenty of power. The limiting factor is always traction really. Cold affects power draw less than it does for charging.

 

[GtiMart]

Ah, that just means you don't live where it's really cold. At - 20C my car provided a maximum of around 100-120hp. That is low...

 

[Idk3]

How much of the power bar is generally missing?

Even in these cold temps with my battery at 5/6c I can access plenty of power. The limiting factor is always traction really. Cold affects power draw less than it does for charging.

I’m talking like the last 5% of the bar. But it changes the whole thing, the throttle response across the whole range is different when it’s giving less power.